NBCU Names Kimberley D. Harris General Counsel

New advisor served as White House counsel; veteran Rick Cotton to work on piracy issues

NBCUniversal named Kimberley D. Harris executive vice president and general counsel Tuesday. Based in New York, she will report directly to Steve Burke, Chief Executive Officer, NBCUniversal. Her appointment begins on September 3rd.

Harris replaces NBCU veteran Rick Cotton, who first joined NBC in 1989 as executive veep and general counsel of NBC, and who has served as exec veep and general counsel of NBCUniversal since 2004. Cotton, who announced his intention to step down as General Counsel in May of 2012, will assume the post of Senior Counselor for IP Protection, working closely with the anti-piracy team at NBCUniversal and Comcast on anti-piracy policy and advocacy.

In her new role Ms. Harris will provide legal advice to the NBCUniversal senior management team and supervise its law department, which handles legal matters for all of NBCUniversal’s business units, including the company’s film studio, two broadcast networks, 18 cable channels, 50-plus digital sites, and theme park operations. Ms. Harris also will coordinate NBCUniversal’s global regulatory and legislative agenda.

She joins NBCUniversal from Davis Polk & Wardwell, where she served most recently as a partner in the litigation department. During her tenure, she handled investigations by the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the U.S. Congress, among other matters.

From 2010 to 2012, Harris served in the White House Counsel’s Office, most recently as Deputy Counsel and Deputy Assistant to the President. During her tenure at the White House, Harris advised senior Executive Branch officials on congressional investigations and executive privilege issues, and senior White House officials on a wide range of compliance and risk management issues, as well as other legal matters. In addition, she developed and implemented the White House response to congressional investigations, and managed litigation matters relating to the President.

Harris graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University, and holds a law degree from Yale Law School.